To be honest, if the mast step bearing issue doesn't bother you, you don't have to change the mast step. I'd highly recommend it, because I think it's safer and a better design, but these boats sailed with the old style step for a long time. You could just drill & re-rivet the step you have for now, but make sure it seats firmly to the crossbar. Any point loading could do more damage to the crossbar. I'd still plan to replace the step later on. Don't try to convert this one to a four-rivet step, wait until you get that step and drill the holes in the right spot. But I fully understand having to prioritize when fixing up an old boat, I struggled with choosing which repairs to make each year myself! As long as you do something to fix it for now, you should be fine.
As a matter of perspective, I paid $1,500 for my boat and I still put in another $1,000 my first year. Was it sailable as it was? Sure. The boat was actually in good condition, but there was still a lot that needed to be fixed or replaced. The rigging hadn't been replaced in decades, the hull ports were cracked, the boat wasn't secured well to the trailer, the mast wasn't secured well for trailering, the hull lips were separating, there were a lot of parts that were worn out/not working, I didn't have a righting line, I found soft spots... It's a matter of what is safe, or "safe enough" to you, how much risk you're willing to take, and what needs to get fixed before it gets worse or fails completely.
I've put in about $10,000 in 5 years, and it's finally in a well kept condition and safe to trailer long distances. Maybe up to 25% of that is convenience items and upgrades... fat bags, upgraded tiller connectors, EPO rudders, SX wings, etc, but a lot of it was just good ol' boat maintenance. Figure if it were a power boat, you'd be spending that much on gas (or more) every year, so it's just the cost of upkeep on a sailboat.
Looking at the appearance of the boat, I'd look for soft spots first and foremost. If everything is solid, then the boat is in good enough condition to fix up. A couple small soft spots? Easy to fix. A couple big soft spots? Big problem. If the hulls are good, everything else can be fixed or replaced, but it gets expensive very quickly.
If you're looking for a cheap set of standing rigging (highly recommended to replace if it's older than 3 years in salt water), Saltcitysailing sells a complete set of standing rigging for $350 on ebay, which is considerably less than the cost of buying it all separately.
|